Columns

It was a surprise to learn, at the beginning of the month, that Jim Vest is stepping down from Town Council. By the time this column sees print, Vest’s resignation will have taken effect. He officially submitted his resignation at Council’s Oct. 10 meeting.

You’d think the President of the United States would have far greater concerns – North Korea, health care, our crumbling infrastructure – than what’s happening on the playing fields of professional football.
But as we know, this idiot in the White House is unlike anyone before him, and we never know what will occupy his deranged mind. So, recently, he made one of his signature crazy speeches and went after NFL players who, to him, hadn’t sufficiently worshipped the American flag.

Let me preface this column by reminding folks that I am not a Donald Trump fan. He wasn’t my first choice for the Republican Party nominee last year. He wasn’t my second or third choice either. I was appalled by the choice the two parties handed me and, during the debates between him and Satan’s Sister, I often wished the earth would split open and swallow them both like Dathan and Abiram in the Old Testament (Numbers 16:31-33) so we could start over with better candidates.

I do everything. Not only have I added SCA President to my pile of responsibilities, but I am now the Bedford Bulletin’s intern until April. For those of you who haven’t heard of me, however, allow me to introduce myself:

I am Foster Garrett.
Seventeen years ago, a party raged. People poured in from the streets and filled the house, dancing and chattering. However, the party is not what people remember when they think of that night.
They remember me.

Usually, when John Barnhart and I have a back-and-forth here in our respective columns, I’m happy to let him have the last word. It seems important to him.
This time, however, I must break precedent, because there were a few claims in his column about Charlottesville that simply must be disputed.

As I’ve mentioned before in this space, all the flap about Confederate monuments is strictly political. It’s an effort by the left to try to make up for their bankrupt ideology. They have no good ideas, so they attack symbols in an effort to give the impression that they are doing something. They are aided by the fact that so many people are ignorant or ill informed about American history.

Soon we will welcome Autumn with it’s amazing colors, blue skies and all the joy associated with harvest, feasts, family and togetherness. Fall in our mountain, lake and quaint ‘towns’ region is prime for tourism. Now is the time for the business community to roll out the welcome mat leading to your door with a brilliant fall theme.

The American presidency has always been the office we hold in the highest esteem. Our history demonstrates that it should be held by people of the best quality, who are experienced and able to do the job.
We’ve truly had some giants; the first president, George Washington, set the example of transferring power democratically to the next one, something extremely rare at the time.

I noticed from Rick Howell’s last column that he’s still fighting battles that were settled 150 years ago. He really needs to do some serious reading on American history. If he does, there are a few facts that he will discover.
The first fact is that there are no slaves in America. The 13th Amendment, ratified at the end of 1865, outlawed slavery in the entire United States. Today, there are no slaves in the United States and haven’t been any slaves in the United States for 150 years.

You’d think that Christian people, who claim to follow a religion that teaches love, tolerance and understanding, would be the first in our world to stand strong against racism, both past and present.
But in the South, particularly, that just hasn’t been the case. Too often, self-styled Christians have led the way in rationalizing, justifying and defending racist practices and making excuses for the Confederacy.